1. Field
Apparatuses, methods, and computer readable mediums consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a case management system, and more specifically, to management of data organized around an individual or a group of individuals.
2. Description of the Related Art
The administration of child welfare services is an extremely data intensive task. Providers of child welfare services must keep accurate and precise records of the recipients and of their services not only for the purpose of tracking the wellbeing of and making critical decisions about children's futures, but also to ensure effective resource management for the labor-intensive task of providing welfare services.
In recognition of this two-pronged need for detailed, data-driven administration of child welfare services, and in response to changes in modern technology, as a part of the 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, Congress enacted the Statewide Automated Child Welfare Information Systems (SACWIS) protocol. If any given State complies with the data-monitoring requirements of SACWIS, it receives substantial subsidies for the administration of its welfare services. As explained by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:                If a State elects to implement a SACWIS, the system is expected to be a comprehensive automated case management tool that meets the needs of all staff (including social workers and their supervisors, whether employed by the State, county, or contracted private providers) involved in foster care and adoptions assistance case management. SACWIS funding is available for development, implementation and operational costs. SACWIS funding is also available for SACWIS user-training services and SACWIS equipment costs for all staff (including private providers) to use the system.        In exchange for the additional funding provided to a State that elects to implement a SACWIS, the State must agree that the SACWIS will be the sole case management automation tool used by all public and private social workers responsible for case management activities. Furthermore, staff are expected to enter all case management information into SACWIS so it holds a State's “official case record”—a complete, current, accurate, and unified case management history on all children and families served by the Title IV-B/IV-E State agency. By law, a SACWIS is required to support the reporting of data to the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis Reporting System (AFCARS) and the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS). Furthermore, a SACWIS is expected to have bi-directional interfaces with a State's Title IV-A (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), Title XIX (Medicaid), and Title IV-D (Child Support) systems.        SACWIS systems must also collect and manage the information necessary to facilitate the delivery of child welfare support services, including family support and family preservation. States are encouraged to add complementary functionality to their SACWIS, such as functionality that supports child protective services, thereby providing a unified automated tool to support all child welfare services. States may incorporate other programs into a SACWIS (such as TANF emergency assistance, juvenile justice, mental health, and adult protective services) or provide access for other human service professionals (such as family courts, schools, medical providers, and providers of services to stabilize families and ensure child well-being).        Currently, most States and the District of Columbia are at some stage of SACWIS planning, development, implementation, or operations.        
Accordingly, many States have attempted to develop information system solutions that meet the SACWIS standards, though few have reached full compliance. However, in the seventeen years which have passed since the implementation of SACWIS, much of the software that has been developed to comply with the SACWIS standards—though such software represented a significant step forward at the time of development—has evolved into a series of inefficient legacy systems, based on outdated data models and old to obsolete hardware. In fact, in some instances, social workers spend more time entering information into dated SACWIS systems than they actually spend providing direct support of the children and families they help.
In the time since the original SACWIS systems have been built, both the development processes and operational models of enterprise software have changed dramatically. Critically, the development of Web 2.0, robust open-source rapid development platforms, cloud-based computing and the arrival of commercial software-as-a-service (“SaaS”) solutions have created an environment wherein vastly more efficient and flexible child welfare information systems may be developed. These changes have enabled the development of child welfare information systems that feature not only a substantial reduction in the administrative burden in the implementation of such systems, but also, based on social networking models, include more finely tuned and robust case management software and analytic tools.